Top Prospect Performers Over The Weekend, Aug. 17-19

• Presented here are the top pitcher game scores from weekend series. Any prospect with a game score greater than 65 is displayed.

TOP GAME GAME SCORES BY PROSPECTS IN MINORS, AUG. 17-19

PITCHER

TEAM

ORG

LEAGUE

LVL

IP

H

R

ER

SO

BB

GS

Edwin Escobar*

Augusta

SF

South Atlantic

LoA

8.2

1

0

0

9

1

91

Jesse Biddle*

Clearwater

PHI

Florida State

HiA

7

0

0

0

12

2

87

Trevor Bauer

Reno

ARI

Pacific Coast

AAA

9

5

2

2

12

1

80

J.O. Berrios

Elizabethton

MIN

Appalachian

R

5

2

0

0

11

0

74

Chris Heston

Richmond

SF

Eastern

AA

7

3

0

0

6

3

74

Ethan Martin

Reading

PHI

Eastern

AA

7

4

0

0

7

2

74

Jayson Aquino*

Grand Junction

COL

Pioneer

R

7

3

1

0

6

3

72

Jose Fernandez

Jupiter

MIA

Florida State

HiA

5

2

0

0

8

0

71

Tyler Anderson*

Asheville

COL

South Atlantic

LoA

7

7

0

0

7

0

70

Zeke Spruill

Mississippi

ATL

Southern

AA

9

7

2

2

6

1

70

Danny Rosenbaum*

Harrisburg

WAS

Eastern

AA

7

5

0

0

3

1

69

Charlie Leesman*

Charlotte

CWS

International

AAA

7

6

0

0

4

0

69

Adam Wilk*

Toledo

DET

International

AAA

5

1

0

0

4

0

69

Blair Walters*

Lancaster

HOU

California

HiA

6

2

0

0

3

3

68

Dimasther Delgado*

Lynchburg

ATL

Carolina

HiA

6

4

0

0

4

1

67

Nick Kingham

West Virginia

PIT

South Atlantic

LoA

6

2

1

1

3

0

67

Neil Ramirez

Frisco

TEX

Texas

AA

5

1

0

0

3

1

67

Sean Gilmartin*

Gwinnett

ATL

International

AAA

5

1

1

1

6

1

66

Danny Hultzen*

Tacoma

SEA

Pacific Coast

AAA

5

0

1

1

6

3

66

*Lefthander

• The Giants identified Edwin Escobar as sufficient compensation from the Rangers for Rule 5 pick Ben Snyder during spring training 2010, and while the lefty has progressed slowly, reaching low Class A Augusta this season, he's also shown consistent swing-and-miss stuff and the potential for much more in the results department. Case in point: his start at Charleston on Sunday, in which he allowed one hit in a career-high 8 2/3 innings. The 20-year-old Escobar walked his first batter of the game with two outs in the ninth, sacrificing his chance to notch the complete game. He's gone 6-7, 3.24 in 20 starts this season and ranks sixth in the South Atlantic League ERA race and fifth with 8.5 strikeouts per nine innings.

• Phillies lefty Jesse Biddle continues his quiet domination of the Florida State League. He's gone 9-5, 3.26 in 24 starts with a strikeout rare (9.5 per nine innings) bettered only by former high Class A Clearwater teammate Adam Morgan among FSL starters. Biddle tossed seven no-hit innings against Brevard County on Friday, but the Threshers bullpen lost the no-hit bid with one out in the ninth.

• Diamondbacks righty Trevor Bauer continues to state his case as the greatest pitcher in Triple-A Reno franchise history. On Friday, he threw just the second complete game by a Reno pitcher at Aces Ballpark (which opened in 2009), holding Round Rock to two runs on five hits while striking out 12 and walking one over nine innings. Bauer has gone 5-1, 2.74 in 12 starts for Reno, racking up three double-digit strikeouts games along the way.

Notable Performance By A Prospect-Eligible Pitcher Outside His Organization's Preseason Top 30

Triple-A Buffalo righty Collin McHugh has made home-and-home starts against Pawtucket his last two times out, holding the Red Sox in check with one run in 12 2/3 innings. He fanned four, walked none and allowed five hits over seven shutout innings on Saturday to improve to 2-2, 2.45 with a 52-19 K-BB ratio in his past nine starts for the Mets' top affiliate. While McHugh is 25 and just reaching Triple-A for the first time, he tops out near 93 mph, throws strikes and has a nifty changeup, making him a solid bet to see big league time as a reliever or back-of-the-rotation starter.

Worst Game Score By A Prospect

Triple-A Gwinnett righty Julio Teheran squandered the momentum he gained last week when he made the Prospect Hot Sheet for the first time this season on the strength of a nine-strikeout, one-run effort. Starting at Durham on Sunday, the 21-year-old Braves prospect let in seven runs on nine hits over 2 2/3 innings (game score: 13), giving him 11 starts (out of 24) this season in which he's failed to last at least five innings. Teheran had four such starts last year in 25 tries.

• Presented here are the top runs created tallies from weekend series. All prospects with four or more runs created are displayed.

TOP RUNS CREATED TALLIES BY PROSPECTS IN MINORS, AUG. 17-19

BATTER

ORG

TEAM

LGE

LVL

AB

H

2B

3B

HR

BB

SO

SB

RC

Drew Vettleson*

B. Green

TB

MWL

LoA

13

8

2

0

2

1

0

0

7.3

Trayce Thompson

Birmingham

CWS

SL

AA

9

6

1

0

2

2

1

0

6.0

Zach Collier*

Clearwater

PHI

FSL

HiA

12

5

0

0

3

2

0

2

5.8

Michael Taylor

Sacramento

OAK

PCL

AAA

12

7

3

0

1

2

4

0

5.7

Jake Lamb*

Missoula

ARI

Pio.

R

14

6

0

1

2

1

0

0

5.3

Edinson Rincon

S. Antonio

SD

TL

AA

11

6

3

0

2

0

0

0

5.3

Trevor Story

Asheville

COL

SAL

LoA

15

7

3

0

2

0

3

0

5.2

Wendell Soto#

Orem

LAA

Pio.

R

11

5

2

0

1

3

1

1

5.0

Dave Sappelt

Iowa

CHC

PCL

AAA

11

6

1

0

2

1

1

0

4.8

Rich Poythress

Jackson

SEA

SL

AA

10

6

2

1

0

1

0

0

4.6

Alfredo Marte

Mobile

ARI

SL

AA

9

5

0

0

2

1

1

0

4.6

Jonathan Singleton*

C. Christi

HOU

TL

AA

10

6

1

0

1

1

2

0

4.4

O'Koyea Dickson

G. Lakes

LAD

MWL

LoA

8

5

1

0

1

1

0

1

4.3

Luis Sardinas#

Hickory

TEX

SAL

LoA

6

4

0

1

0

3

0

1

4.2

Taylor Lindsey*

I. Empire

LAA

CAL

HiA

12

6

2

0

1

1

0

0

4.1

Conor Gillaspie*

Fresno

SF

PCL

AAA

14

7

0

0

1

0

2

0

4.1

Billy Hamilton#

Pensacola

CIN

SL

AA

15

7

0

1

0

2

4

2

4.1

Zack Cox*

Jacksonville

MIA

SL

AA

12

6

1

0

0

4

1

0

4.1

Christian Lopes

Bluefield

TOR

Appy

R

16

6

0

1

1

0

0

1

4.0

*Bats lefthanded. #Switch-hitter.

• Bowling Green right fielder Drew Vettleson has been one of the MIdwest League's most productive hitters in the second half, batting .291/.347/.488 with nine homers in 203 at-bats. His 99 total bases since the all-star break ranks fifth in the league, and the 21-year-old's late-season surge is an encouraging development for the Rays after he faded late with Rookie-level Princeton in 2011. Vettleson homered on Saturday and Sunday, collecting four hits on the former day and three on the latter.

Notable Performance By A Prospect-Eligible Player Outside His Organization's Preseason Top 30

The Reds added toolsy center fielder Denis Phipps to the 40-man roster last offseason rather than risk losing him in the Rule 5 draft. The 27-year-old Dominican has gotten no closer to a callup this season by falling flat with Triple-A Louisville, batting .217/.293/.390 with 13 homers through 318 at-bats. Phipps smacked two home runs in a game yesterday, hit one on Saturday (all at home versus Columbus) and went 7-for-11 (.636) with eight RBIs and two doubles to provide a glimmer of hope that better days lie ahead.

Rough Stretch

Though he's one of the brightest center-field prospects in the minors, the Blue Jays' Jake Marisnick has had a rough go at Double-A New Hampshire, going 1-for-13 with five whiffs over the weekend. The 21-year-old mastered the Florida State League this season (.800 OPS in 65 games), but he's batted just .211/.281/.286 with one homer through 161 at-bats for the Fisher Cats.

Bill James' game score calculation (Wikipedia entry) rewards pitchers who work deep into games without allowing many runs or hits while providing extra credit for dominance (strikeouts) and control (few walks).

The Bill James-devised runs created metric (Wikipedia entry explains ’02 version) rewards batters for avoiding outs and reaching base safely (on-base percentage) and for accumulating total bases (slugging percentage), two factors that correlate strongly with run scoring, and for obvious reasons.